- Outdoor columnist Ben Smith says out of all the men who have influenced the sport of hunting and fishing, we just lost perhaps the greatest outdoor influencer of all time, Phil Robertson.
Throughout the course of history, there have been many people that had a lasting impact on the outdoor community. I loved reading old stories of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett as a kid. Their adventures into what was pretty much the wild frontier back then would keep me on the edge of my seat as a read about them. Fred Bear was another outdoorsman that I loved learning about. Somewhat a folk hero in the outdoor world, Fred has a line of bows named after him. Heck, Ted Nugent even wrote a song about him.
And we have our own old outdoor adventure story in Mississippi with President Teddy Roosevelt. I used to hunt close to Onward, Mississippi, made famous by President Roosevelt, and I thought it was pretty cool to be in an area known for his visit. Mississippi Governor Longino invited Roosevelt down on a bear hunt and after a few days of hunting the President was the only guy in the hunting party that hadn’t had an opportunity to shoot a bear. Fearing a bust of a hunt for the leader of the free world, the guides tracked down a bear, caught it, and tied it to a tree for Roosevelt to shoot. Roosevelt viewed it as “unsportsmanlike” and refused to shoot the bear (the bear was later dispatched due to its injuries from the dogs). The news caught fire across America and a cartoonist drew an image depicting the hunt. Later, a shopkeeper in Brooklyn, New York named two stuffed toy bears “Teddy’s bears”, and we all know where that went from there.
More recently, Steven Rinella has shared his adventures in the outdoors with the world through the hit show “Meat Eater.” I’m not ashamed to say that the show gave me incentive to get into the outdoors more and ultimately gave birth to this column and the “Southern Drawl Podcast.” His minimalist approach has inspired me to emulate it to the best of my abilities. Along with being a professional hunter/fisherman, he is one heckuva journalist and has written several books that I have enjoyed reading.
But out of all of those men that have had so much influence on the sport of hunting and fishing, we just lost perhaps the greatest outdoor influencer of all time…Phil Robertson. Now, Phil wasn’t as flashy as Rinella. He wasn’t a wordsmith with publications that he wrote. Just a simple man with a simple message to the American people. His words were strong, but his actions were stronger. Love God, love your family, and shoot ducks…in that order.
Born into absolute poverty in Louisiana, Robertson grew up tough, living off of the land. He learned to hunt at an early age as much out of necessity as out of pleasure. By the time he was in high school, he was also an All-State athlete and landed at Louisiana Tech as the starting quarterback over future NFL Hall of Famer, Terry Bradshaw. When the opportunity to potentially play professionally came calling, he went hunting instead. In hindsight, it turned out to be a pretty good decision.
My favorite part of his story, and what I believe is the reason he’s one of, if not the most influential outdoorsman ever, is how he spread the Gospel to millions. See, Phil wasn’t always a Christian. During his twenties, he was a raging alcoholic and nearly lost his family completely. Having never met Phil, personally, I did have the opportunity to meet his son, Willie, last year. Listening to Willie talk about their lives when his parents were separated due to his dad’s alcoholism was both gut-wrenching and riveting. Hearing Willie talk about his dad’s redemption and becoming a Christian was enough to make you want to jump out of your seat and dance. And I think it’s the best part of his life story because Phil was living proof that any person can be redeemed, no matter how far astray you get, and make a positive difference in the world.
From there, Phil went on to start “Duck Commander” which became one of the top duck call businesses in the world. Later in life, Phil was approached by his sons about potentially doing a show based on the family’s activities. He balked at the idea at first, but later agreed when he thought of how many people he could share the Gospel with through television. The hit show “Duck Dynasty” was born, and Phil stayed true to character and was often seen on the show talking about the love of Jesus. So yeah, pretty dadgum influential if you ask me.
Now, I’m a sucker for reading the comments under a Facebook post, especially something newsworthy. When the news of Phil’s passing broke a week ago all over social media, I began to look to see what people were saying. It broke my heart at how many people had nasty comments about him being a racist, or a homophobe, that were under some of the posts. There were obviously more positive comments than negative, but I was taken aback at how anyone could view this man as anything other than a genuine, God-fearing country boy. I resisted the temptation to set these folks straight, figuring I’d probably do more harm than good for the glory of God. Sometimes silence is the loudest sound, something that I wish I’d learned a long time ago.
But here we are. We live in this social media era of so-called “influencers”, but are they really influential? And what are they influencing? I even catch myself trying to make things look better for social media than they actually are. In a world of clicks and likes, this man just lived. He didn’t have to create content for everyone to see and like him. He just went out and did what he did…love God, love his family, and shoot ducks.
Ben Smith
